The ACU Rodeo is back again for another year of steer saddling and calf scrambling. Members of Alpha Epsilon Sigma club, part of the Agriculture and Environmental Science department, will be in the Campus Center after Chapel until 1 p.m. encouraging students to register.
The 59th ACU Rodeo will take place at the Taylor County Expo Center on Thursday, March 26. The event will begin at 6 p.m. and the entry fee is $100 for each four-member team.
“This year we are focusing on making the rodeo safer for participants and spectators as well,” said Morgan Ruble, registration coordinator. “As opposed to last year, we are asking spectators to sign a medical release form due to the safety measures we are taking in order to prevent an accident in the crowd.”
For the past few years the rodeo consisted of the same three events for men and women. This year, there will be two events for a four-man team, two separate events for a two-man team and the crowd favorite, the single Queen and Roughie event.
The Queen event consists of one member of a women’s team who is selected by her teammates to catch a wild goat and milk it. The Roughie event consists of one member of a men’s team who is selected by his teammates to ride a steer for the longest amount of time.
A lot of participation comes from the various social clubs, mainly because each team is rewarded intramural points.
Bryce Gerlach, president of the AES club, and Sara Bishop, co-vice president, contacted each social club’s intramural directors and have attended their club meetings to inform them about the event.
“As usual, college students decide to sign up last-minute, but we expect a larger turnout for this year’s rodeo because of the involvement of smaller clubs,” Bishop said. “I think we are going to have a high turnout for the Queen and Roughie event.”
For the men, the events include: calf branding, double mugging and steer saddling. For the women, the events include: catch those kids, calf scramble, chicken ‘n’ eggs and calf flag tying.
The AES club will set up a booth outside of the barn to allow members of each team to sign in, sign the medical release form and receive their ACU Rodeo T-shirt after the event. The shirts will be sold to non-participants after spring break for $12.
“We are excited to have a lot of students come out, get a little dirty, listen to some good country music and have a great time watching the fifty-ninth ACU Rodeo,” Bishop said.
